


Trials and Tribulations

by LoneWulffe



Category: Knives Out (2019)
Genre: Developing Friendships, F/M, Friendship/Love, Post-Canon, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 03:41:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29289255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoneWulffe/pseuds/LoneWulffe
Summary: Thanks to the trial of one Hugh Ransom Drysdale, Benoit's and Marta's paths cross once more.Things develop from there.
Relationships: Benoit Blanc & Marta Cabrera, Benoit Blanc/Marta Cabrera
Comments: 9
Kudos: 20





	Trials and Tribulations

**Author's Note:**

> As always, special thanks to my best friend and pseudo-beta Crimson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An entirely foreseeable situation and a completely unexpected call lead Benoit and Marta to reconnect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I promised more post-movie fics so here I am with a relatively ambitious multi-chapter one. Just to be clear, my knowledge of law is pretty much limited to bits of Law & Order and the first few results I find on Google so I hope you all don't mind if I play a little fast and loose with trial procedures and whatnot. Anyway, enough of my rambling; I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Contrary to what the general public likely believed, Benoit's appearance in a courtroom did not serve as the epilogue to each and every one of his cases.

It was not in his nature to blow his own trumpet – being confident in his skills was not quite the same thing and he was sure many people would agree on that – but at the end of his investigations, there was never any room for doubt as to the identity and motive of the criminal in question among other things. On more than one occasion, the culprit would even openly confess everything in front of him, the local officers of the law present or both upon being presented with enough evidence to prove their guilt. As such, the prosecutor in charge would have open-and-shut cases which they typically used to leverage an acceptable plea deal and thus avoid the costly theatrics of a trial.

This, however, was not always the case, and he found it was usually determined by the kind of criminal he found at the end of each gravity's rainbow. There were the obscenely wealthy ones who believed they could buy their way out of trouble this time like all the other past instances in their privileged lives, the unbearably hubristic ones who thought themselves above all the laws and rules that governed lesser men and the ones who thought they were wily enough to make a fool of the justice system, just to list the ones he encountered most frequently. Such individuals, first-hand experience informed him, always refused a deal and embraced the chance to go to trial for their own reasons.

Hugh Ransom Drysdale, unfortunately, was those three things combined, and so Benoit found himself largely unsurprised to learn that he would need to return to Boston soon and testify at the trial.

Benoit's features darkened as he recalled the last time he had laid eyes on the young man approximately two months ago. Whether it had been due to an inordinate amount of good fortune or divine intervention, the life of one Marta Cabrera had only narrowly avoided coming to a premature end thanks to Mr Drysdale... and it troubled him deeply that he had only been able to watch it happen. He had already known the callous brute to be cold-hearted enough to first engineer his own grandfather's death at the hands of an unwitting innocent and then murder the person seeking to expose his crime; how could he not have foreseen that last vindictive act? It was inexcusable, and not even Marta's readily given but unearned forgiveness could wash away that stain on his conscience.

From there, his mind began pondering marginally more palatable topics such as her well-being. At the end of their last encounter, he had done his best to help her recover from her near-death experience before his responsibilities had called him away. While she had still been a little shaken especially after learning he had known she was involved from the very beginning, she had at least seemed as well as the situation had allowed. The shock had passed, and based on the strength of spirit she had shown throughout his investigation, he was confident that she would be able to pull through in the end. Between her family and the immense wealth now at her disposal, such a goal seemed more than achievable.

Even so, there was a small part of him that contemplated a courtesy call if only to assuage his own lingering concerns every now and then. It was an impulse he never failed to squash whenever it arose, however; their acquaintanceship had, after all, begun and ended in the midst of less than pleasant circumstances. While it was true they had parted on reasonably good terms, the irrefutable fact was that he was linked to a tragic chapter in her life – one he was almost certain she wished to put behind her as quickly as possible. She would no doubt have received a notice similar to his and the thought of having to face her attempted murderer again in court was probably distressing enough on its own. If Benoit happened to cross paths with her during the course of the trial, he would see how she was doing but if not then so be it.

The corners of his lips curled a little and he let out a soft disbelieving huff as he continued to watch his fellow residents of New Orleans go about their daily lives in the street below his home. Usually, it was easy enough for him to put a case behind him for the most part once it had been solved and that included almost everyone involved in it. The exceptions to that rule tended to be individuals like Lieutenant Elliot and Trooper Wagner due to the nature of their profession... but it seemed as if Marta had unwittingly added herself to that list.

A familiar trill pulled Benoit out of his thoughts and he reached for his phone without pausing to wonder who might be calling him.

He did, however, pause when he saw the name displayed on its screen.

“Speak of the devil,” he murmured with a touch of pleasant surprise. Why would Marta be reaching out to him out of the blue? Was it because of the trial, perhaps? There was only one way to find out.

Expecting to receive an answer relatively quickly, he found himself in for another surprise when he answered the call.

“Hi, is this Benoit Blanc's number?” an unfamiliar female voice asked before he could even say anything.

“Yes. May I inquire as to whom I'm speaking with?” A dark thought crossed his mind then. “Is Marta all right?”

“What? Oh no, nothing's happened to her. I'm Alicia, her sister, but you can call me Alice,” she quickly explained, having likely just realised what he had wrongly assumed. “I'm just borrowing her phone since she won't give me your number no matter how many times I ask her.”

One of his eyebrows arched. “Do you have a case for me?”

She made a noise that was hard to decipher especially over the phone. “I wish. No wait, it might count. Look, first off I want to say thanks. If not for you, Marta would probably be in jail right now and I don't even want to think about what would've happened to Mamá after that-”

“I'm sure Lieutenant Elliot and Trooper Wagner would have been able to uncover the truth eventually without my assistance,” he demurred politely.

This time, the noise she made was clearly one of disbelief but she barrelled on before he could try to defend the two officers. “Okay, well, you still helped, right? And Marta seems to like you so I thought if there was someone who could help her now that she'd actually be okay with helping her, it'd be you.”

Benoit straightened a little. “Is something the matter?”

“You know that asshole pleaded 'not guilty', right?” The edge in her voice gave him a good idea who she was referring to with that curse and she confirmed it with her next words. “Now there's going to be a trial and Marta has to be a witness and see his asshole face again and she's already stressed enough about all the stuff to do with this money-”

“Alice?” a voice in the background that he vaguely recognised as belonging to Marta abruptly cut Alice's rant short. “Have you seen my- _What are you doing with my phone?!_ ”

Something that sounded like a curse reached his ears followed by a heated conversation in Spanish that was too fast and muted for his rusty command of the language to figure out. Sounds of a small scuffle quickly became mixed in, further adding to the confusion, but both ended all too soon. What followed was a burst of hurried footsteps on carpeted floor – whoever currently had possession of the phone was running, he surmised – before that too ended with the startlingly loud slam of a door.

Then silence.

It lasted for so long he actually checked to see if the call had been disconnected.

“...Blanc?”

Ah, so Marta had managed to regain ownership of her phone although she understandably sounded a little out of breath and frazzled. “Good afternoon, Ms Cabrera.” He adopted a slightly professional tone but made sure to let some genuine warmth into his voice. “I hope you're well.”

More silence ensued although it was much shorter than the one that had preceded it. “...I can't believe she called you.”

Her disbelief was hard to decipher but he refrained from giving it a closer inspection and focused on the matter at hand. While he hadn't been able to understand the conversation he'd overheard earlier, he could guess as to what might have been discussed and took a gamble. “She means well as I'm sure you know.”

“I know she does but-” she cut herself off but not before confirming his suspicions, and the noise that crackled through the line next sounded amusingly similar to the one he'd heard several minutes ago from Alice. “I'm really sorry she bothered you and whatever she told you, please don't think too much about it.”

“I'm afraid I can't do that.” He paused to consider his next words before deciding that it was only fair to be honest with her when she was incapable of lying to him. “If it helps, I had considered calling you myself as recently as today.”

Another stretch of silence followed. “...You did?” For some reason, her voice had gotten a little faint.

“I've been called to testify in the trial of the young Mr Drysdale and Alice confirmed earlier that you will have to do the very same yourself,” he explained. “Considering the... nature of your last interaction with him, I was concerned how you were taking the news.”

“Oh.” Marta fell silent for a while again. “I... Well, it's Ransom, so. I guess I should've seen this coming.”

Benoit noted with a touch of worry that she hadn't quite answered his indirect question although it didn't surprise him considering what he knew about her. Never mind. That just meant he would have to make the next move. “If the matter is causing you any manner of anxiety, I would be more than happy to ease at least some of your concerns seeing as I have some experience in the affairs of the courtroom.”

“Blanc, I couldn't possibly-” she started to protest.

“Marta, please,” he cut her off gently and was heartened when she didn't try to continue. “It's no trouble to me, I assure you. After all, I'll need to come to Boston in order to provide my own testimony and I live by my own schedule. I assume you're presently staying at the estate with your family?”

“...Yes, we are. Ever since the press found out where we used to live, Harlan's- I mean, this is the only place we can stay where they'll leave us alone.”

He winced in sympathy and chose not to comment on her slip of the tongue. “That is a truly unfortunate state of affairs.”

“You really don't have to, you know,” she said, her voice soft in a rather strange and puzzling way. “I can just ask Alan or see if he knows anyone who can advise me about this.”

“I will respect your decision to seek counsel from someone else,” he told her simply and sincerely.

When she fell silent again, he got the distinct impression that he might be able to hear her thoughts running rampant in her head if he concentrated hard enough. “...Okay.” She let out an audible breath. “Thank you, Blanc.”

“I haven't done much as yet although I do hope to earn your gratitude when we meet,” he replied with good humour. “Now if you'll excuse me, I believe I have some packing to do.”

Something that possibly qualified as a laugh reached his ears and warmed his heart. “I'm sure you do.” She paused, and when she spoke again her voice was a different kind of soft. “It was nice hearing your voice again, Blanc.”

“And I yours, Ms Cabrera,” he said with a smile, meaning every word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the stage is set! For the record, this story draws a few elements from my first fic Ports in a Storm but it's not really necessary to read that because you won't exactly be missing much. Other than that, please be patient with me regarding updates as I'm juggling a few other stories at the same time but I'll try not to take too long so see you in the next chapter!
> 
> PS: 'Voir dire' is a legal term that primarily refers to the jury selection process. It comes from the old Latin oath 'verum dicere' taken by jurors to tell the truth which I thought was a fitting title for the first chapter considering Marta's "condition", haha.


End file.
